Blogs about my life as a writer

29
Apr

Did this interview for the lovely Sarah Hardy’s blog on being a crime writer in Devon last year. Thought she wouldn’t mind me putting it on the website!

Biography I was born and raised on a huge estate in south Manchester in a noisy household with three younger brothers. To escape, I began to read, and I have had my nose buried in a book ever since. I started with Enid Blyton, moved on to myths and legends, fantasy and science fiction, and discovered crime when I hit my thirties. Now I enjoy contemporary fiction of many varieties, but find myself writing crime…Read More

14
Apr

I stopped writing four weeks ago. Just stopped. I had lost my muse, couldn’t find a way forward with book 3 that didn’t bore the pants off me (and if I’m bored – what hope has anyone else?) I needed a little break, if not a total breakdown.Read More

06
Mar

There’s so much advice available to authors, especially when, for whatever reason, we falter in our story. Sometimes it’s a plot hole, or a character that doesn’t quite work that brings us staggering to a halt. if, like me you have been churning out a couple of thousand words a day, it comes as a shock to be sitting staring at the screen, unsure of where to go next because I have had an IDEA.Read More

12
Feb

People often ask me why I decided to write, and, to be honest, there are times I ask myself the same question. When it’s going well and the words tumble out of my fingers and onto the computer it’s the best feeling. The act of creativity is powerful and totally absorbing and I can’t think of anything I would rather do. Read More

04
Jan

If there’s one thing I have come to learn from my years on this planet, it’s that we are all different, and we all have different ways of doing things. I am often asked about how I write a novel; about the processes from first idea to actually producing a finished book many months later. As if there is a wrong or right way.Read More

17
Nov

So, I have not been posting blogs recently. In fact I have not been writing recently. I passed over the completed book 2, Death and The Good Son, to Bloodhound for editing and formatting, and have enjoyed helping to choose the cover, write the blurb, add acknowledgements. All exciting writing-related activities.Read More

11
Oct

That’s it. I have sent off my final draft of Book 2 in the DI Dan Hellier series to the publishers. The baby bird has flown the nest. I can’t do anything now except wait for final amendments and look forward to choosing a cover from the ideas they will send.Read More

21
Sep

So, the draft of Book 2 in the DI Hellier police series is ready for a good editing. I’ve got the metaphorical red pen out, as I prefer to edit on computer using ‘Track Changes’ in Word, then proof-read on a hard copy.Read More

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27
Aug

There is a peculiar moment between finishing a novel and waiting for it to be returned full of the changes and edits I will need to make in order for it to be enjoyed. I’m suddenly free of the necessity to produce a couple of thousand words a day. The story has matured and gone through major changes and some re-writing over the last few months. And now, for a few short weeks, I can do nothing.Read More